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Current research shows that 40 percent of
consumers buy more from retailers who personalize their
shopping experience across channels. Additionally, nearly
three in four, or 74 percent, of online
consumers get frustrated with websites when the content that’s
displayed has nothing to do with their interests. It is
clear that a personalized website is an advantage
to every marketer or entrepreneur leading a successful
business today.

Website personalization takes into account that users have
different motivations, devices, locations and time constraints.
With current technology, marketers can now gather specific
information about what a website visitor is searching for and
translate their visit into a higher conversion.

“Organizations spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars,
and sometimes even millions of dollars, to create robust dynamic
web experiences,” explained Itai Sadan, CEO and co-founder of
mobile website creation platform DudaMobile. The company recently
rolled out inSite that adds dynamic web content based
on customer behavior to create personalized viewing
experiences.

“Expensive tools and this type of personalization traditionally
requires substantial web development and design, which is why
we’re excited about bringing affordability to this exploding
industry,” Sadan said.

Website personalization on a mass scale is indeed
possible with the increasing number of low-cost options
available to business owners today. Here are five ways business
owners can begin to increase conversion through basic website
personalization:

1. Visitor frequency should determine different user
experiences. A visitor to a website for the first
time will almost always be looking for different information than
someone visiting the site repeatedly.

David Reischer, marketing officer at LegalAdvice.com, suggests tracking each
user differently to give different user experiences. “We
utilize a cookie to track a returning visitor so that we can
direct them to the most appropriate and relevant page. This
makes site navigation easier for repeat users.”

To increase conversion of first-time visitors include a
phone number or business address, a contact form to capture
leads, or a video tutorial to explain a product or service to a
first time visitor.

“For frequent visitors, add a spot to sign up for a mailing list
or add information about new products or services,” suggests
Sadan.

2. Geo-location helps bring together online and offline
marketing. The ability to know where someone
is at the time they visit a website is game-changing for
marketers.

“Online we can follow our customer’s individual buying journey,
optimizing it every step of the way,” explains Bart Heilbron, CEO
and co-founder of BlueConic, the real-time system of online
customer engagement. “However, we were never able to use these
insights in our offline interaction. With geo-location, we are
now able to.”

If someone is only blocks away from a business and searching on a
mobile phone, chances are they can be easily converted as a
customer if they see an address and even a coupon that says,
“Come in today and get 20% off.” For restaurants, an OpenTable
button to reserve a table, or a Google Map app that provides
step-by-step directions to the store location are critical for
conversion.

3. Adjust content based on certain
times. Changing the content on a website based on
the time of day, week or even season can increase conversions as
well. Consider replacing a phone number available to website
visitors during business hours with a contact form when the
business is closed. This will avoid missing out on potential
customers who want to get in contact outside of business hours.

“The ability to offer different products over the course of a day
based on targeted trends, habits or culture will increase
conversions,” said CEO of internet marketing company WebiMax, Ken Wisnefski. “For example, a
restaurant offers a different menu throughout the day as they
switch from lunch to dinner.”

4. Recognize holidays and other special
events. This is a great way to personalize a
website and better connect with a customer’s sentiment. Change
the theme to hearts during Valentine’s Day or add an image of
fireworks during the 4th of July.

“This could have a positive effect on customer engagement, and in
turn conversion,” said Sadan.

5. Capture the visitor source to adapt
content. Knowing the original destination source
that a visitor has entered a website from should greatly impact
the content on the landing page that they see first. This can
provide a seamless and consistent experience to the visitor.

According to Sadan, “Visitors that come to your site from an
email marketing campaign or as a referral from another site
should receive dedicated messaging that is aligned with the
messaging they saw in the email or the referring site. Offering a
coupon at this point could also be a good idea.”